TRANSPORT Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong will debate the cabotage policy with DAP’s Lim Guan Eng after the cabinet has decided on the issue, said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun.

“The minister told me that he’s ready to debate Yang Berhormat Bagan (Lim) on any platform after the cabinet has decided on the cabotage issue this month,” Azhar told Parliament this morning.

Azhar was responding to Lim’s request for an update on Wee’s debate challenge.

Wee, who has come under attack for reversing the cabotage exemption for undersea cable repair vessels, had challenged Lim to a debate on the matter last week.

Wee, who replaced Anthony Loke (Seremban-PH) as the transport minister last year, had reversed the exemption after taking office.

In 2018, Loke had given an exemption for foreign undersea cable repair vessels to undertake repair works in Malaysian waters.

According to Loke, the time (average 27 days) taken to get a domestic shipping licence (DSL) was too long and had caused unnecessary disruption to internet connections.

As such, the government decided to exempt vessels undertaking such repair works.

But when Wee came into office in 2020, he reversed the decision, noting that there were local companies that could do the job and Malaysia should not need to rely on foreign vessels.  

Wee’s decision, however, resulted in a backlash from foreign companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Amazon as well as local telecommunications companies. 

Others who complained that the decision had caused Malaysia to lose investments include the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Communications and Malaysia Digital Economy Cooperation (MDEC). 

But Wee stood by his decision and although the cabinet was supposed to decide on the cabotage issue in April, nothing happened. 

Since then, Wee has changed his argument noting that the Transport Ministry has shortened the time needed to obtain a DSL to three days and has since given 10 DSLs to foreign vessels to repair submarine cables in Malaysian waters. – October 7, 2021.